Selling or Trading In a Laptop? Do These 5 Things First

Whether it's going to Facebook Marketplace, a pawn shop, or a trade-in program, five minutes of prep protects your identity and usually raises the price.

The 5-step pre-sale checklist

1. Back up what matters — photos, documents, browser passwords, tax files. External drive or cloud, your call.
2. Sign out of your accounts — Microsoft account, iCloud/Find My (if it's ever synced), browser profiles. A laptop still tied to your account is a headache for both sides.
3. Deauthorize licensed software — some paid apps limit how many machines can use a license.
4. Factory reset — Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC → "Remove everything." This is what wipes your personal data.
5. Clean it physically — screen, keyboard, ports. Clean laptops photograph better and sell faster.

The catch: you can't do any of that on a locked laptop

If the laptop you want to sell is password-locked — an old machine, an inherited one, a trade-in someone brought you — you can't back up, sign out, or reset it. Selling it locked means parts pricing. That's exactly the gap we fill: mail it in, we unlock it (24–72 hours after receipt, $100 standard / $140 expedited, free shipping both ways), request the free factory reset in the order form, and it comes back ready to sell for full working value.

Rather donate than sell?

If the money isn't the point, donate it — we cover the shipping, refurbish working machines for families and students, and responsibly recycle the rest. Locked, broken, or wiped are all welcome.